Daft Punk aired a mysterious new advert during yesterday’s edition of Saturday Night Live (March 2) – scroll down to the bottom of the page and click to watch.

The brief promo was broadcast during the US TV show, says Pitchfork, but it lasts for only 16 seconds and initially simply shows a shiny Daft Punk logo. It then changes to a similar image to the one they released earlier this week to announce they had signed a deal with Columbia Records. The advert also contains a tiny snippet of what appears to be a piece of new music, although there was no further information revealed.

Reports of Daft Punk having signed to Sony-owned Columbia emerged earlier this year and it is expected the dance musicians will release their fourth album this spring. The French dance duo, which consists of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, have left Virgin, with whom they signed in 1996.

The pair have been working with Chic’s Nile Rodgers, who previously hinted their fourth album would appear in 2013, as well as Oscar-winning songwriter Paul Williams and disco pioneer Giorgio Moroder. Animal Collective’s Panda Bear and Feist collaborator Chilly Gonzales are also rumoured to have collaborated with the duo.

There were strong rumours Daft Punk would be among the performers at this year’s Glastonbury Festival, though organiser Emily Eavis has denied this will happen.

Daft Punk released their debut album ‘Homework’ in 1997, followed by ‘Discovery’ and ‘Human After All’ in 2001 and 2005 respectively. Their most recent release was the soundtrack for ‘Tron: Legacy’ in 2010.